Iranian President Raisi re-elected to Assembly of Experts with 82% of vote
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been re-elected to the Assembly of Experts in the country’s elections, state-run media outlets reported.
The 88-member legislative body, which comprises male Islamic scholars, has a remit of appointing, supervising and, if needed, dismissing the country’s supreme leader who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who turns 85 next month, has been in his post since 1989.
Mr Raisi, who took office in 2021, has been touted as a possible future supreme leader.
Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Sunday reported that Mr Raisi had won 82 per cent of votes in South Khorasan province, an 8 per cent increase from the last elections. In January, the Guardian Council barred former president Hassan Rouhani, who was in office from 2013 to 2021, from running in elections for the Assembly of Experts, without saying why.
He was first elected in 1999 and announced in November that he was seeking a new term.
The former leader, described as a moderate, was elected in a landslide victory in 2013 and 2017 on a promise to reduce Iran’s diplomatic isolation.
In 2015, he agreed on a nuclear pact with six major powers, angering political hardliners who opposed any rapprochement with the US.
The deal unravelled in 2018 when then-US president Donald Trump unilaterally dropped the agreement and reimposed sanctions that have hamstrung Iran’s economy.
The 12-member Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation, disqualified 80 per cent of candidates running for the assembly in the last election in 2016.
Officials are yet to release turnout figures from Friday’s polls but some state-run media outlets reported only 41 per cent of eligible voters participated, down from 42 per cent in 2020 which was then the lowest since the 1979 revolution.
It was reported that in Tehran, the turnout was about 24 per cent.
Conservatives are leading in the initial vote count, looking likely to consolidate control over Iran’s 290seat Parliament.
Iranians are notably less engaged with the country’s leadership
after a crackdown on anti-regime protests in 2022 and worsening living conditions under western sanctions, with inflation at about
40 per cent and the currency’s value dropping heavily in recent months.
About 61 million Iranians were eligible to cast a ballot, including 3.5 million firsttime voters.
Several reformists opted to boycott Friday’s election, prompting authorities to extend voting hours twice, ensuring that polling centres remained open until midnight.
Besides setting laws, crucial parliamentary functions include approving the government’s budget and international treaties.
All new legislation must be approved by the Guardian Council, half of whose members are directly appointed by the supreme leader.
In practice, absolute power in Iran rests with Mr Khamenei.
Counting the votes in Iran is a manual process, so it takes time for authorities to tally the ballot.